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It's Year Of The Wiener Dog For Pups In Key West Parade

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The Associated Press

Published: December 31, 2007

KEY WEST - A parade of about 100 dachshunds and their owners will kick off New Year's Eve festivities in this island city.

Today, the dogs will parade down sidewalks that border Duval Street, the island's main thoroughfare.

The route is kept short to cater to the canine contingent's short legs, and many entrants are costumed. A supply wagon will accompany the dogs with water, plastic bags for accident cleanup and transportation for dogs that get tired.

"People in Key West embrace these crazy things," said resident Ruth Reiter, who founded the Key West Dachshund Walk three years ago.

Reiter said participants include a variety of dachshunds, from miniature to longhaired. A few dogs even bear suspicious resemblance to other breeds.

"I think maybe there are some impostors who sneak in, but we don't check pedigrees here," she said.

Later in the evening, tens of thousands of revelers are expected to ring in 2008 with several takeoffs of New York City's traditional Times Square ball drop in Key West's historic district.

At the Schooner Wharf Bar, owner Evalena Worthington will wear a pirate's wench costume and be lowered from the mast of a vintage sailing vessel.

A giant, fake conch shell will be lowered atop the roof of Sloppy Joe's Bar, author Ernest Hemingway's favorite Key West watering hole.

At the Bourbon Street Pub complex, Key West female impersonator Gary Marion will transform into "Sushi" and descend from the tavern's balcony to Duval Street in a glittering, super-sized, red high-heel shoe.

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